


She...Was

by EnjoninePride



Category: Groundhog Day - Minchin/Rubin
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Kindness, Love, Memories, Minor Character Death, Rememberance, Slight Humor, husbandrememberinglatewife, little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 19:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13864488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnjoninePride/pseuds/EnjoninePride
Summary: Ned reminisces about his deceased wife to Phil.





	She...Was

**Author's Note:**

> Heyoo! Sorry for not posting! School is taking up my time at the moment. So this little plot bunny decided to gnaw at my brain while I was writing another Ned/Mary fic. Since this one is a tad shorter, I decided to post this guy first. I apologize if I made Ned and Phil a little OOC, but this was my attempt at getting more into Ned's grieving side and Phil's supportive side. I hope you will enjoy it!

The cool spring breeze brushed through the Pennsylvanian landscape. The sun was a bright ball of golden white light, its warmth beaming down to the Earth. Few clouds were spursed in the bright blue Pennsylvanian sky.

    An old beat up pickup truck parked at the outside of a sprawling cemetery.

    The doors to the truck opened and out came Ned Ryerson and Phil Connors, dressed up not too fancy, but in quite formal suits. Phil was carrying a bouquet of orange roses.

“Ready?” Ned asked Phil as he fixed himself up from jumping out of the truck.

Phil nodded and followed his friend through the gates and past the sea of grey polished tombstones.

Each one had a different name engraved on them, marking who was resting in that particular spot. The years engraved varied from person to person. One person was only forty-five when they died. Another eighty-eight. Another only three months.

Phil read every one he passed and couldn’t imagine being part of those families who lost someone near and dear to their heart. He couldn’t even imagine being Ned, who had lost his wife almost four years prior.

“Here we are!” Ned told, showing Phil to a small plot that was in direct sunlight.

A beautifully polished obsidian black tombstone sat in place. One the left side of the stone was the engraving of a sun and on the right was a crescent moon. In white engraving, it read:

_Mary-Jean Averleigh Ryerson_

_Beloved Daughter, Wife, and Mother_

 

    Phil could feel his eyes watering. This was her. Ned’s wife. The woman he only saw in a picture Ned had pulled out from his wallet.

 

“This is your wife?” Phil asked his friend.

“Bing.” Ned said to him. “I hope you don’t mind, I have sort of a routine I do every day I visit…”

“No no! Go ahead! Don’t let me be in your way!” Phil exclaimed.

“You’re not in my way, but thank you for being courteous.”

Ned looked down at the stone and grinned. “Hi, honey! How are you today?”

He took off his fedora and placed it on top of the headstone.

“Letting you steal my hat again. I know how much you like doing that!” Ned chuckled as he pulled out a clean rag and began wiping the headstone.

    “Spring showers are making things muddy around here, hu?”

    Phil just stood behind him and watched in respect and admiration while still holding the bouquet of orange roses. He grinned as Ned ran the rag all over the the stone, making sure there were no spots left untouched. 

 

“The boys are good.” Ned spoke as he continued to clean.

“Jaime just heard back from the Marching Band committee at school. He’s going to be a section leader for the trombones! Can you believe that? Joey has a date with a pretty girl from school, though he’ll deny it. Jack and Jasper are working on a project for school together, called “My Hero”. I’m not sure who they are choosing, but I have a feeling it is you, my love. Oh! Also, Little Mary came with me to work the other day. She used up all my whiteboard markers to draw pictures all over my walls! It was my fault. I should have watched her, but I didn’t. Now I’m going to have to buy some paint to cover over it!”

Phil’s friend stood up and took a minute to make sure he really didn’t miss a spot.

“Do you see anything?” Ned asked Phil.

“I think you got it all.” he responded.

Ned smiled and pulled Phil up a little closer to where his wife was.

“Mary, I don’t think I’ve introduced him yet. This is Phil Connors. We went to Case Western High together. He’s the man I told you about, remember? He’s the weatherman from Channel 5 Pittsburg. The one who we watched together when you were with Jasper. The one who found completely insane ways to get out of tests.”

Phil glanced at the bouquet he held in his hands then at the headstone.

Truth be told, he was a little nervous, but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been to a cemetery in years. The last time was for his grandfather’s funeral when he was a freshman.

It could be the other reason, he knew how much this meant to Ned, meeting his wife, or at least where she rested. One of those days in the  Groundhog Day loop, Phil had learned that Ned Ryerson was a father of five and had a wife to whom he treasured. When Phil took him out for coffee, he learned a little about the family Ned had, especially his wife.

“I would love to meet her.” Phil told him.

“Really?” Ned choked.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll take you over when you are not too busy then, and maybe when there are _less_ storms.”

“I’ll be there.”

 

    Now it was April, and Phil was there like he said, meeting the woman who changed Ned’s life.

    “Hello, Mrs. Ryerson.” Phil greeted as he bent down a placed the roses on Mary’s grave. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. From what your husband has shown me, you were a very beautiful young lady.”

    Ned, getting a little teary-eyed, joked, “He said that you were _hot_ , my dear!”

    Phil felt a little embarrassed, although he shouldn’t have. He had called lot’s of women hot. Maybe it was the fact that Mary Ryerson was a married woman and it was her husband who made the comment.

    “Hey! I didn’t mean…”

    “Nonsense, Phil! Mary would have been quite flattered! I mean...I called her hot a few times myself!”

    Phil raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You?”

    “Yeah! Why? Do you not believe me?” Ned asked.

    “No no! I’m sure you did! It’s just...kind of hard to see _you_ calling a woman _hot.”_

Ned grinned at his friend. “I became a different man after high school, Phil.” His grin turned into a frown. “Okay, not _totally_ different. Just slightly.”

Phil nodded in understanding. “I figured.”

Ned placed his left hand on top of Mary’s gravestone, almost as if he was caressing a child’s head. He smiled, but it had an aura of sorrow surrounding it.

“I wish you had gotten to meet her. In person, I mean. She...she was one-of-a-kind.”  

Phil placed his hand on Ned shoulder in comforting manner.

“I’m sure she was.”

 

The two of them stood in silence for a few minutes before Ned choked, “You know...she...she was fearless. Mary. A lonely child growing up, but she became a woman who never seemed to have a care in the world about what people thought of her. I guess I sort of picked that up from her.”

He turned to Phil with a grin on his face with an expression of one who had thought of something wonderful.

“There was this one time, it was pouring rain out here in Punxsutawney. Mary decided to run outside with no shoes and no socks. I told her that she was going to catch a cold, but she didn’t care. ‘What’s life without a little risk?’ she asked. Mary ended up pulling me out with her, and we sort of danced together and shared a kiss in the rain. The neighbors watched us from the inside, but that didn’t matter. We were together. Mary and I  both got drenched, and my poor beloved did catch a cold...but she said it was worth it.”

Phil beamed at Ned.

“Wow. You’re one lucky man.”

Ned chuckled. “Yeah…” he thought for a moment before telling Phil, “She had the most gorgeous smile. Her cheeks would crease with these deep dimples and it was quite mesmerizing to look at. When Mary would smile, there was a glow in her complexion that I could never explain it to anyone. Her light sprinkle of freckles on her nose would be more visible when Mary smiled. I remember also that she would take long showers, using up all the hot water. Mary would always used this shampoo that  gave her hair the smell of fresh cut lemons. And when we would kiss, which was quite often I will admit, her lips always had a little hint of cinnamon. Oh! And  how could I forget her cute little snore!  She would inhale air through her nose and exhale air through her mouth in small puffs. It was the last thing I would see before going to bed and was the first thing I would wake up to.  Mary was something, I tell you!”

“She sure seems like it.” Phil exclaimed, letting go of Ned’s shoulder.

He smiled. “You know, my wife loved poetry.”

“Really?” Phil asked.

“Yeah! I mean...she could recite one hundred poems by heart. Mary always would recite poetry before we would to bed. Her favorite was _How Did You Die?_ by Edmund Vance Cooke...It’s not as depressing as it sounds…and every poem she could recite, she knew them in French and in Russian.”

“Your wife was trilingual?” Phil exclaimed with impression.

Ned nodded. “Yes. She was quite brilliant! Her grandmother was French, so Mary learned from her and she just picked up Russian through a frequent customer at her parents’ bakery.

“Bakery?” Phil asked, not meaning to interrupt.

“Oh! Yes! The Marshall Family Bakery in Cleveland. Her family owns it. It's a small one I'm sure you've passed a couple of times. That’s where she got her love for baking. She was a master at her craft! Mary could whip up anything you could ever ask for, cookies, cakes, pies, cupcakes. She had as much knowledge in baking as I have in insurance, or at least that’s what she said. When you take a bite out of her treats, you would feel like you were walking on air. They were just amazing, Phil! I could never duplicate her baking. It was like its own artform.”

“I’m sure it was.” Phil commented.

“And! And, do you know what she use to do while baking? She would sing, and oh how she could sing! Her voice was one that would make autotune cry. She could sing any genre and it would just sound so angelic like. Mary’s favorite musician was always Carole King and I remember coming home after work and hearing her faintly sing our wedding song, _Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow…_ ”

Ned sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye. His cheeks turned a light red color when he noticed that Phil was watching.

“I apologize, Phil. I don’t want you to see me get all emotional…”

“Ned! Hey! Buddy! Don’t think that way! Do you know what shit I’ve been through? Life is tough. There were days that I wished I was dead. It was hard for me. I didn’t really want to show anyone the other side of me. You told me from the few times I came over to your house that if I needed to talk, you would be willing to let me open up. Now I’m returning the favor. Don’t be ashamed that you are still in pain over your wife. If you need to let it out, then let it out.”

Ned sniffed again then grinned. “Thanks, Phil. It means a lot. Just don’t tell my kids, please.”

“I won’t.” Phil promised.

Ned looked down at the headstone again.

“I miss her so much.”

“ I just want to say that from what you have told me about her, Mary seemed like a fantastic person.”

Phil looked down at her grave and said, “Mrs. Ryerson, you are one lucky woman to have been married to this guy. Sure he’s strange but…wait a minute…Ned? Did you ever have any of your strange quirks when dating and marrying Mary?”

Ned turned her head to face Phil’s. “Quirks? You mean my personality? Of course! She called me her dork when we were dating and even through our fifteen years of marriage I was still her dork. She told me that my little mannerisms were cute….ha! Cute! She occasionally would say ‘Bing!’ in the same fashion I did...oh! And also, she would harmonize with me on my jingle! You know? The ‘ _death will come…’”_

“Ned! I know your jingle already and I just got it out of my head! Please!” Phil complained.

“Sorry.” Ned said embarrassingly.

Phil patted him on the back.

“You know, I should ask _you_ for woman advice, now that I think about it!”

“Why me?”

“Ned! You hit the jackpot when it came to falling in love _and_ getting married! I think I should ask you how you did it! What’s your secret?” Phil teased.

“There is no secret, Phil! I was just being myself...sort of...there were some days I tried to channel you when I was trying to impress Mary. That’s it! I don’t even know what she saw in me!”

Ned looked back at his wife’s headstone and sniffed.

“You okay?” Phil asked.

It took a minute before Ned let his words out, “I remember taking Mary to Case Western’s ten year class reunion and we were engaged at the time. Some of the old jocks saw me with her and told me that Mary was way out of my league.”

“And you believed them?” Phil questioned.

“Of course I believed them! She was way  out of my league! Mary was out of my league the same way Pluto is distant from the sun! But…”

“You loved her anyway and she loved you.”

Ned looked back at Phil’s face. “She could’ve chosen anyone else in the world, and yet she chose _me._ I mean...when we started dating, we didn’t have much. I tried to treat her with fancy restaurants when I had the money, but otherwise we were working or staying at home. When we moved to Punxsutawney and got more established, we realized that we didn’t need much. We had each other. Sure, we fought but that just brought us closer. We worked together and persevered through all kinds of situations. She taught me so many things and in return I taught her all I knew. But the greatest thing to come out of our marriage was the birth of our beautiful and wonderful children. In their eyes I can see my wife. The boys hold her spirit and our daughter looks almost exactly like her. We couldn’t be more grateful to have them in our lives. Mary showed me how to love life, and no matter where I go, she will always be with me. I love her so much.”

“Ned...that was really beautiful. Mary was really lucky to have you, she really was.” Phil awed, never really experiencing how much compassion Ned held inside of him. It was looking at a completely different person.

“Sorry if I babbled.” Ned apologized.

“Ned! Don’t say sorry, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Besides, this time your babbles were quite tolerable.” Phil joked.

“Gee! Thanks! You’re almost as bad as my wife!” Ned chuckled. “Do you have the time?”

Phil pulled out his smartphone and checked. “Almost noon.”

“We should start heading back. Little Mary can’t take her naps with anyone but me. Not even Mrs. Lancaster if you can believe it!”

“Well, she _is_ your daughter.” Phil commented.

Ned placed a kiss on his pointer and middle finger and touched the tombstone.

“I miss you, my love. I will see you tomorrow. I love you.”

He picked up his fedora and placed it on his head.

Phil looked over at Mary’s grave. “It was a pleasure finally meeting you, Mrs. Ryerson. Thank you for keeping this dork in check!”

“Hey! You can’t use dork! Only Mary can!” Ned exclaimed.

“To hell I can’t! Why? Is there some kind of rule regarding its usage?”

“Bing!”

“You have got to be shitting me.”

The two of them exchanged words back and forth to one another as they got to the truck and left the cemetery.

“You are impossible! Just like high school!”

“I just want to know!”

“Phil! I am not going to tell you about how many times Mary and I... _folded sheets together_.”

“Fine!...but I’m guessing with the amount of kids you two had I’m guessing you and Mary and a very healthy sex life…”

“You know, I am a very forgiving person, but now I’m thinking of kicking you out of this truck…”

“Do you have a policy for that?” Phil asked.

Ned chuckled. “Bing! And you know what? I think you and Mary would have been great friends.”

Phil and Ned shared a friendly smile as the two of them drove back into their small town.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated.


End file.
